It's natural for people to want to know what to expect from a new year as it dawns around the world. Since most in North America and the UK consider January 1st to be the beginning of the New Year it's a very busy time for tarot readings, astrologers, and all manner of diviners as clients flock to find out what the next 12 months holds in store for them. It's fun and can also be very instructive, acting as a guidepost along the way when navigating life's various trials and tribulations.

I wanted to do a full Year Ahead reading for the general state of the world in 2011, but realized it would be far too long to make appropriate short-form material. Instead, I decided to do a 3-card draw for the upcoming year and post it here for everyone.

Card 1 represents the over-arching theme for the 2011.

Six of Cups - Return to Innocence

It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that getting back to basics has become extremely important in our short-sighted, instant gratification-oriented society. The natural world continues to be destroyed in order to feed a bottomless demand for energy and resources. Rather than focusing on community - keeping everyone fed, housed, educated, employed, and able to access effective health care - we've crafted a society that only "looks out for #1" and has little to no sense of long-term consequences of actions and choices.

A whole civilization of people has been programmed to believe that material objects will somehow fulfill them, and have become transformed into ravenous hungry ghosts...miserable shells that seek cessation of pain through consumption.

There have always been voices calling for proper stewardship of the Earth and all her creatures, to decrease the toxic load we burden the land, animals, and even our own bodies with, and to look no further than our own families, communities, and spirit for fulfillment. As the Procession of the Equinoxes moves forward we see more and more voices joining in, but critical mass hasn't quite been reached yet.

The Six of Cups asks you to get back to the basics, find the simple pleasures in life, cultivate your appreciation for them, and work to help others rediscover them as well. Be part of the movement that makes positive changes on Mother Earth and wrests control of Her and Her Children away from those who are only concerned with power and money, and instead replaces them with the powerful simplicities of Love and Compassion.

Card 2 represents the energy that people may draw from throughout the year when challenging times pop up.

Four of Wands - Celebrate Your Blessings

We live in a world that would like us to believe that our lives are deficient, and that only through acquiring that Next Big Thing will we finally be happy. What? You mean you don't own the latest shoes that will make you more attractive by making your clearly inferior posterior tighter? And just imagine how much better your life would be if only you could afford a huge car with multiple television screens in it so that your kids would be able to stretch out and play video games while you drive them to karate!

What would serve us better is a sense of gratitude for what we have been blessed with. It is through cultivating a sense of humility and thankfulness that we can begin to truly appreciate all the beauty in the world and already present in our lives. It will help us find our center and keep us grounded so that we're better able to perceive when things are starting to get unbalanced. Appreciating how others have touched and influenced our lives can motivate us to reach out and have a positive effect on someone else. I bet if you look back on things the people that made the biggest difference in your life did not hand you money or give you more stuff, but instead nurtured and celebrated you in some way.

What talents and abilities do you have that you are not making the best use of, not celebrating? What do you have that you can share with others that will help uplift them? How can you better show appreciation for those that have made a positive impact on your life? In what way can you better utilize the blessings that are already in your life? Finding and acting on the answers on these questions can deeply enrich your life and relationships, and help support you during troubled times.

And finally Card 3 represents a message from Gaia to her human inhabitants for 2011.

The Hermit - The Solutions are Within YOU

Michael Jackson's song "Man in the Mirror" sums up this card very succinctly.

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About Me

Devi Spring has been practicing folk magic since 1997. With academic learning and practical experience in many different areas of world spiritual and folk magic traditions, she began offering divination and ritual work professionally to clients in 2008. She is the proprietress of Queen of Pentacles Conjure where she provides tarot readings, spiritual consultations, candle services, and a variety of custom crafted items such as mojo bags, bottle spells, and more.

She holds a Religious Studies, B.A. and is also a Usui Reiki Master-Teacher with an established healing and teaching practice in Toronto.

Devi has trained in many different forms of folk magic,and takes inspiration from traditions tied to her own heritage and those she has received initiation in. This has resulted in a unique and syncretic melange of hoodoo, Mexican folk religion, New Orleans conjure, universalist and folk expressions of Hinduism, Hermetic ceremonialism, and folk shamanic spirit-work paving her path.